


Under Everything

by SelanPike



Series: Moebean Saga [3]
Category: Super Mario Bros.
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-22
Updated: 2014-03-21
Packaged: 2018-01-16 13:43:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1349491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelanPike/pseuds/SelanPike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kamek shows up at Fawful's shop one day and warns of great misfortune, Fawful knows Kamek is up to something bad. But what could Kamek be up to, and what will Fawful do to combat this threat?</p><p>(Originally posted to FF.N in 2007.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The chapter in which Fawful is receiving an unexpected visitor.

The sewers beneath Princess Peach's castle were a dank, quiet place. Few wandered in or out of the place, and for good reason. It was dark, it was spooky, and it reeked suspiciously of crud vapors.

Deep within the cavernous pipes, however, one lone soul had cleaned out the muck, sprayed gallons of air freshener, and made his home. In fact, he had made more than just his home—he had put together a store, a  _shrine_ , even, dedicated to badges and beans. Jars of beans were stacked all about, bean-shaped decorations adorned the walls and counters, and bean-shaped lamps hung from the ceiling. More than just the literal beans, though, the décor was in a decidedly Beanish style. It was decorated in the bright, creepily cheerful style so typical of Beanbean interor design—a futile attempt on the inhabitant's part to ease his longing for the homeland from which he was exiled.

A short little Beanish boy danced around behind his counter. He felt light as air today, despite the fact that the royals living up above were preparing burritos for dinner, which was usually a thing that put him in a foul mood. But no, not today! He grinned a toothy grin, laughing to himself and humming.

"I have love!" he cried.

An object sat upon the counter. He looked upon it with wide eyes, a slight blush coming to his cheeks as he stared. "Did you have the hearing? I said to you that I am having love—for  _you!_ "

He picked up the object and embraced it, rubbing his cheek affectionately against the metal figure.

It was his latest invention. He had named it the  _FuryZAP 9000_ , and it was a sight to behold. Shiny and metallic and colored in shades of purple and red, it looked like a toy but was capable of untold destruction. That was his favorite kind of design—the kind that seems harmless until it's melted your face off. It reminded him of himself.

"Oh, I am just imagining! I will have walking into the town of Roseness and they will be saying, 'oh, it is our friend of friendliness, Gera who is not Fawful as far as we are suspecting! He is carrying something which has the appearance of a toy but we will soon be finding that it is not a toy at all but is pure concentrated  _doom!_ '" He broke out laughing, his high-pitched giggle echoing in the empty room and connecting pipes.

He reached into a nearby jar of beans and grabbed a handful. With his free hand he flipped open a small hatch on the gun and proceeded to put the beans into it. Some time ago he had discovered a means of turning beans into pure energy. All of his inventions ran on it, and it was the reason for all the trouble he had gone through preparing this shop, stealing all those badges, and luring the occasional customer to his shop. These people thought they were getting a good deal—rare badges for something as worthless as beans! But little did they know the true value of those little legumes…

As he snapped the hatch shut again, he heard the sound of feet stepping against metal pipe, approaching his humble shop. He quickly hid the weapon under his counter, not wanting to give away his devious plans just yet, and put on his best 'I'm not going to kill you because I want your business' smile. His smile melted into a frown, and then a tooth-baring expression of hatred as a figure began to become clear through the darkness.

He whipped the gun out from its hiding place and fired a shot at his visitor. A pink-hued ball of light shot forth into the darkness, but bounced away from its target and into a nearby wall.

The visitor, an old Magikoopa, waved his magic wand tauntingly, the gem at the top still smoldering from having deflected the blast.

"Too slow, kid," he said.

"Kamek!" Fawful screamed, jumping atop the counter, still pointing the gun at the newcomer. "What are you doing in the shop of the Bean who is me?!"

"I found a bean," Kamek said casually, holding up a single bean. "I was wondering what sort of badge I could buy?"

Kamek threw the bean to Fawful, who caught it while still aiming.

"You can purchase nothing with a bean which is only numbering one," he hissed. "Now begone."

"Oh? But I had to dig everywhere to find it," Kamek said, putting a hand to his chest as though he were really hurt. "I don't suppose you could even give me a half-badge?"

"No. Leave the place which is my domicile at once," Fawful insisted.

Kamek walked over to the counter and sat down on one of the bean-shaped stools. He smiled at Fawful, the sort of smile he used when he knew something that the little Bean-scientist didn't.

"Not while you've got my bean," he said. "Like I said, I worked hard to get that. If you aren't giving me a badge, then give it back."

"This is not why you have come," Fawful growled. "What is your real reason for having the disturbing of the great Fawful who is me?"

"Ahh, can't get anything past  _you_ , can I."

Fawful huffed and sat down upon the counter. He still pointed the gun at his adversary, but didn't grip it quite so tightly. He couldn't attack now. Kamek was hiding something and if Fawful killed him he'd never find out what it was.

Kamek waved his hand and his wand disappeared. A round glass ball appeared in its place, floating an inch over Kamek's hand. It glowed eerily.

"I came to warn you," Kamek said, waving a hand over the crystal's surface.

"Oh, yes?" Fawful said, entirely skeptical.

"Yep," Kamek smiled wider as he watched mystical lights dance about within the ball. "I see terrible misfortune in your future."

Fawful glared at the crystal ball. He didn't see any misfortune in it; all he could see were fancy lights. "The predictions that you receive from your ball of glass rarely prove themselves to be possessing any truth, if at all ever."

"My predictions are  _always_  right," Kamek huffed.

Fawful shook his head. "I am not being fooled. There are being no 'predictions'—the only 'misfortunes' that may have possibleness are ones that I have knowing are hatching in your head which is full of badness and stupid!"

Kamek pretended to pout. "Fawful, I'm hurt! I came all this way to warn you, possibly even save your  _life_ , and you treat me like this? And here I thought we were _friends_."

Fawful glared at Kamek. Kamek couldn't keep up the act, and he began to laugh.

"Hah! You! Me!  _Friends!_ " the aged Magikoopa held his sides as he laughed. "Oh, oh… but in all seriousness. Why is it so hard to imagine that I might have come in peace, kid? I mean, do I have an army behind me? Is Bowser at my side? Do I have a squad of Toad police rushing the place?"

Fawful didn't reply. It was true that Kamek could easily have attacked, now that he knew where Fawful's hideout was. But the fact that he hadn't was not proof that he was here peacefully—in fact, it was just further proof that Kamek was planning something. It was well known between the two of them that Fawful was much more powerful than Kamek, especially now that he had his  _FuryZAP 9000._  No, if Kamek wanted to take Fawful down, he'd have to be much more clever.

Too bad for Kamek, Fawful could be just as clever.

Kamek sighed, looking around. "It's a nice place you've made for yourself, here. Very smart. No one would think to look for a fugitive inside the castle walls," he grinned, "Except for me, of course. But then, you really can't expect to keep yourself hidden from me for too long."

Fawful slipped himself off of the counter, standing behind it. He glanced under the counter while Kamek was looking away. Where was it… ah, there!

Kamek looked back at Fawful just as Fawful was pulling his hand away from the counter again.

"It's been so long since I saw you last! When was it, that time in Moleville? Oh well," Fawful knew that Kamek was stalling. He wondered what he was stalling  _for_. "You've lost weight. Royal dinner scraps not cutting it?" Kamek chuckled, leaned forward, and pat Fawful on the head, eliciting a growl from the little Bean. "Haven't gotten any taller, though. Poor kid."

Fawful slapped Kamek's hands away, then pushed Kamek out of his seat. "I will appreciate you to acknowledge that I have in facting grown one inch! And if you are having no other things to say except for talk of smallness, then I will tell you to leave before I am to begin blasting you to pieces!"

Kamek stood up, brushing himself off. He huffed. "Well, if you're going to be that way, then fine. I'll just be on my way."

The Magikoopa walked to the pipe opening on the other side of the room. He paused and looked back at Fawful, clutching his crystal ball tightly. "Just remember my warning.  _Terrible_  misfortune."

"Make haste in your departure!" Fawful cried.

Kamek sighed and shrugged, and then left.

As he walked through the castle basement, Kamek clutched between his thumb and index finger the thing he had come all this way for.

A single strand of hair. He couldn't believe Fawful hadn't noticed him plucking it out. Unobservant little kid.

He chuckled to himself as he looked at it. Terrible misfortune, indeed!

Back in Fawful's shop, the little bean was toying with a small machine, grinning twisted various knobs, listening intently to the static it gave him, until finally the static was replaced by a light beeping, and numbers began to appear on a small screen.

Distance. Velocity. Coordinates.

Fawful couldn't believe Kamek hadn't noticed him placing a tiny tracking device on his robes. Senile old man.

He giggled to himself and ran to his bedroom to prepare. He wasn't going to let Kamek continue his scheming unhindered! "Terrible misfortune"… hah!


	2. The chapter in which something is being plotted.

Fawful couldn't let Kamek get too far ahead of him, that was certain. If Kamek found the tracking device and took it off, or otherwise lost it, then Fawful would need to be close enough to catch up.

But Kamek was surely expecting to be followed. Kamek wasn't stupid, and Fawful knew that the old Magikoopa would be keeping an eye out for him. He had to keep a safe distance. He had to convince Kamek that he was not being tailed.

So Fawful waited a day. That was plenty enough time for Kamek to return to Bowser's castle and start working on whatever scheme he had planned. And Kamek would look behind his shoulder expecting to see a red-cloaked figure duck behind a tree as he looked, but there wouldn't be anything there. He'd expect to look out his window at night and see a pair of spiraled glasses peeking in, but that would not be the case.

So in the meantime, Fawful quickly put together a sound bug. Just knowing where Kamek was wasn't going to reveal his plot. No, Fawful needed to listen in on his conversations, he needed to find out who he was associating with and what treachery he was planning.

As he finished his working, Fawful glanced over at the readout on the tracker. He realized that Kamek wasn't going to Bowser's castle at all.

Fawful put aside his machinery and pulled a map from a nearby shelf. He laid it out on the table and searched for the coordinates that were on the readout; he found that Kamek was heading to the middle of nowhere.

More proof, Fawful figured. If Kamek had been telling the truth, he'd be home by now.

Fawful stood up and made his way to a closet. He threw open its door and looked over the contents. The closet was filled with various machines, gadgets and doo-dads, the product of him having little else to do but work by himself in the darkness of his shop. He looked longingly at his Headgear, atop the highest shelf. He couldn't use it. Here in the Mushroom Kingdom no one ever remembered his face, but they remembered the Headgear. Whenever he went out with it he found himself being chased by the police—but without it he was unnoticed, just a face in the crowd. It had become a burden to him; when once it had been the penultimate in villainous convenience, now it just got him into trouble.

Reluctantly, he reached instead for a small jetpack, one that could be hidden under his cloak so as not to attract attention. He also grabbed a few other things, shoved them into the pouch on his belt, and then holstered his  _FuryZAP 9000_  on his belt. Grabbing the tracker and the map, he put up his hood and left his shop.

It was dark out, and the waning gibbous moon hung in the sky. Kamek had been flying on his broom all night. He was completely lost.

He touched down in the middle of a grassy field, sitting on the ground with a sigh. He materialized his crystal ball and glared at it as it floated above the damp grass. He looked for a clue, something to tell him which direction to go.

"Stupid piece of glass," he groaned, standing up again and stretching. He kicked the ball, which moved back from the force but then bobbed back into the place he had left it in. "Why can't you ever tell me anything useful?"

He looked around, squinting through thick spectacles at the darkness. His crystal ball had told him his destination was somewhere around here before it had gone silent again, but the exact location he didn't know. It was too dark out now, and he couldn't find it on his own. He was irritated. He had wanted to find the place before sunrise. These sorts of things are best done at night.

He sat back down at his crystal. He grabbed it and put his face close to it, hissing to it as though it were a living thing: "I need to know where this place is, and I need to know now. You  _will_  tell me, or I will melt you down and make you into a set of drinking glasses."

The light in the crystal shifted. Kamek frowned.

"There's no need for obscenities," he said. "Just a direction'll do."

The sun was rising by the time Fawful closed in on Kamek. He saw Kamek exiting a run-down house in the middle of nowhere, and he landed himself quietly on the building's roof. He hid behind a chimney as Kamek flew off and away, undetected by the tired-looking Magikoopa.

When Kamek was out of sight Fawful flew down to the ground and, looking around to make sure there wasn't anyone lying in ambush to attack him, he stepped into the building.

He looked around inside. It was a dilapidated wreck. He took a few tentative steps inside, the floorboards creaking under his feet as he proceeded. He walked from the foyer into some room whose apparent function was lost upon the removal of its furniture. He stopped. Something didn't feel right.

He was being watched.

He whirled around, pulling his  _FuryZAP 9000_  from his belt and pointing it at his stalkers. He found, trailing him, a group of three Boos. They hid their faces and froze as he looked upon them.

Fawful grimaced. He hated ghosts. He swallowed a lump in his throat.

"I am seeing what is transpiring here," he said.

Still holding the laser tightly, he started to circle around the group, never taking his eyes off of them for a second. They didn't dare move while being looked upon. "This is being a house of haunting," Fawful observed, "Likely full of many powers of mysticalness, yes? Yes, I am seeing. Kamek had the casting of spells and curses against me here, did he not?"

The Boos floated there silently, not making a sound. Fawful gritted his teeth. Stupid unresponsive Boos. "I had the asking of you a question! Be answering—the one who is Kamek had casting spells, yes?"

"N-no," said the Boo in the back of the group.

"No?" repeated Fawful.

"He didn't cast anything," the Boo explained.

"They why did he have visiting this place of darkness and unpleasant?"

"Can't say," said a different Boo.

"I would say that you  _can_ ," Fawful said, irked. "I am not seeing tape covering the mouths which you speak with. In facting I am thinking that ghosts such as yourselves lack the tangibility that would be allowing tape to adhere so I have certainty that you are indeed being able to say."

"We're not supposed to tell," said the third Boo.

"Why is this?"

"Can't say that either," the second Boo said.

Fawful groaned. "I have frustration."

"Then maybe you should leave," the second Boo said, a clear tone of malice present.

"I had coming here to get answers," argued Fawful.

"Well you aren't gonna get any," the third Boo said.

"Perhaps I should have  _forcing_  answers from you."

"And how are you gonna do that?" Asked the third Boo, confident that this little Bean was not capable of harming them.

Fawful faltered. How  _did_ one harm a ghost? Surely there had to be some way to do it. However, he was pretty certain that lasers were not the way to go, and therefore he had no means of coercing these specters into talking.

He started backing out of the room, still facing the Boos. He knew better than to turn his back. "I will be returning," he assured them shakily, "And you will have the regretting."

Once he had put enough distance between himself and the Boos and was confident that they wouldn't catch up with him, he turned around and dashed to the door, exiting and slamming the door behind.

The Boos watched him leave, smiling fanged grins. Once he was out, they looked to each other.

"So that's the one, then?" said the first Boo.

The second Boo bobbed as a sort of nod. "Seems like."

"He doesn't look nearly as dangerous as the Magikoopa said," the third said. "Old man must be losing his mind."

"Oh well," said the second, "None of our business, right?"

"Certainly hope not," said the first.

The three Boos all shrugged their spectral nub-arms and returned to the darkness of the house.


	3. The chapter in which the sound bug is planted.

Fawful had found a nice little place to rest in a large, abandoned bird's nest atop a tall tree in the middle of a forest. He had been following Kamek, from a distance of a few miles, all day, and he was tired. Kamek was still on the move, but he wasn't going very fast. Fawful wondered if perhaps Kamek was lost; the Magikoopa usually flew as fast as his magic allowed. Either way, he wasn't going to get too far ahead of Fawful over the course of the few hours he'd spend asleep.

He looked up at the sky, littered with stars that barely twinkled in the cool, dry air. Yawning, he wondered in the back of his head what he would be doing right now if Cackletta were still alive.

He knew he shouldn't think like that. It had been well over a year since she had died, and by all means he  _should_  have moved on by now. But he couldn't help it; hardly a day went by where he didn't think about her.

She would've been able to get the information out of those stupid Boos. She always knew how to handle situations like that. She never got nervous and ran away like he did…

He sighed. "O great Cackletta…," he continued staring at the sky, as though she might appear in it. "I am wondering what words you would have for your loyal toady now. I have much hoping that you would possess pride for me, but…"

He yawned again and tried to stop that train of thought. It would do him no good. The only thing he should be thinking about is what Kamek was up to and how he was going to manage to plant the sound bug on him without being detected.

He closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep, holding the tracker tightly to his chest.

Kamek yawned, took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't slept in days. He had to get this work done before Fawful managed to catch up with him and figure out what was going on. He  _knew_  Fawful had to have been following him. The kid knew he was up to something and he wasn't the type to just sit still and wait for his doom, although Kamek really wished he would. It would've been nice if he could've gone about this at a more leisurely pace.

He really hated the fact that he had to have alerted Fawful to his plans in the first place.

"Should've stolen some of his hair back when he worked for me," he mumbled to himself sleepily as he put his glasses back on. "Should've known he'd turn traitor."

He yawned, and momentarily closed his weary eyes. This was just enough for him to doze off and he promptly fell from the sky much in the same way a brick does. He snapped back to the waking world just before hitting the ground and attempted to get himself back to the air; he was too low, however, and was only able to slow himself enough to prevent injury. He skidded onto the ground and eventually fell over into a complete stop, groaning irritatedly.

He looked forward and saw the distant lights of a town.

Town equals inn. Inn equals bed.

It would be fine, he assured himself. Fawful wasn't going to attack him or anything while he slept… Fawful was a kid and was therefore too curious to do something as logical as that.

Kamek pulled himself to his feet. He brushed himself off, got back onto his broom and slowly plodded off in the direction of the lights.

Fawful was awakened by a change in the pace of the tracker's beeping. He looked at it sleepily and saw that Kamek had stopped moving. He pulled the map from the pouch on his belt and looked up the coordinates.

He started laughing to himself when he found out where Kamek was.

Rose town!  _Rose town!_

Suddenly very much awake, Fawful blasted off in the direction of the town as fast as his jetpack would take him.

Rose town! He couldn't believe it. Was Kamek really so stupid as to stay in a town full of so many people who trusted Fawful so completely? The old man was making things too easy!

The lights of the small town soon came into view, and Fawful landed himself on the ground a little ways away. He then casually walked into the town.

He stopped at the door to the Inn and looked at the tracker. Kamek was upstairs. He looked up and saw that the lights in the upstairs windows were all off. Good.

He opened the door and stepped in quietly. He looked up and saw the innkeeper and his son sitting at the counter, the innkeeper looking over some papers while his son toyed around with a Mario doll. The kid looked up at Fawful and, excited, opened his mouth to greet him. Fawful quickly held his finger up in a 'hush' sign, though, and the kid simply waved.

Fawful approached the counter.

"Excusing me," he said quietly, "I am wondering if perhaps an ugly Magikoopa who is possessing a bad smell has had the checking in on the night that is tonight?"

The innkeeper nodded.

"Can I have asking of you a favor?" Fawful asked.

"Yeah, what is it?"

Fawful turned to take the bug out of his pouch, being careful not to let them catch sight of the  _FuryZAP 9000_  on his belt. He turned back to them and handed the small machine to the innkeeper. "Could you please have the placement of this bug onto his person?"

The innkeeper looked at the bug, and then back up at Fawful with a bewildered look. "Why…?

Fawful smiled. "I am suspecting this Magikoopa to be a cohort of the very bad Bowser. He is up to the planning of many evil deeds and I am trying to have discovering of what his plans are being."

"Cool," the kid said quietly, "What're you gonna do when you find out?"

"I will have notifying of the authorities which may have locking up of him," Fawful said simply. He was very good at lying.

"Ooh! And when you do, is Mario gonna beat him up?"

Fawful struggled to continue smiling. "… Yes. I have sureness that he will."

"Coooool."

Fawful looked back to the innkeeper. "Can you have accomplishing of this?"

The innkeeper nodded. "Of course."

"And be remembering," Fawful said, "It is being of vital import that he is not having any suspicion that you have placed this onto the person who is him. He also must not have knowing that I have been stepping foot into this town. Do you have understanding?"

"Yeah," said the innkeeper, "You can count on me, Gera."

"I am thanking you," Fawful turned and started walking away. "I wish upon you a night which is good."

"Good night to you too," the innkeeper said.

"And good luck!" said the kid.

Fawful opened the door and stepped out without another word. He dashed out of the town and took off into the sky, laughing uncontrollably.

"Have pride, O great Cackletta!" he yelled to the sky, "I am having all of the sneakyness and the cleverness you always wished for me to have possession of!"

He pulled a pair of headphones from his pouch and put them on, flicking a switch that turned on the remote bug. He could hear the innkeeper and his son discussing how to put the bug on Kamek.

Fawful laughed again. He'd know Kamek's plans in no time at all.


	4. The chapter in which a deal possessing sinisterness is made.

Kamek touched down in front of yet another run-down haunted house.

This one was bigger than the last few, at least. Hopefully this would be the right one.

"I swear," he grumbled to himself, "If I get one more Boo telling me I've come to the wrong place…"

He pushed open the rotten, splintered wooden door and it fell off its hinges at his touch. Shaking his head. Kamek walked over the fallen door and entered the house.

"Hello!" he called out, "Anyone here?"

A number of Boos appeared, circled around him. They grinned him in the eerie way Boos usually did. A Boo in front of him spoke.

"Yes? … Oh, Kamek! It's been a while," it said.

Kamek tried to remember if he'd met that specific Boo before. They all looked the same to him. "Yeah, it has," he said, pretending he remembered the ghost, "Look, I don't suppose your leader is here?"

"King Boo?" said the Boo, "You've come to the right place."

Kamek let out a sigh of relief. Finally. "Good, good… can I talk to him?"

"Sorry," said the Boo, "He's a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Kamek frowned. "Really."

A sound floated down from the upstairs rooms. It sounded suspiciously like a slot machine. The Boo nodded. "Really."

Kamek adjusted his glasses. "I don't suppose he could become less preoccupied?"

Another noise came, one that sounded like the bells that go off when one wins on a slot machine. The Boo shook his head, looking a little embarrassed. "No, I don't think so… shall I take a message?"

Kamek rolled his eyes. He'd come all this way and the stupid ghost wouldn't even see him. Great. "I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Kamek materialized the piece of hair and delicately held it between his fingers. "Look, do you remember how, a little while back, King Boo stuck Mario into a painting?"

"Yeah?" said the Boo.

"I need him to do the same thing to an old friend of mine."

Another Boo piped up from behind him. "But that plan didn't work out so good! Mario and his brother got away!"

Kamek grinned. "That's right. Mario and his brother. Mario only got out of that because he had his brother to bail him out. But, you see, this kid hasn't got anyone who cares about him. No one in their right mind would help him."

"I see," said the first Boo. "Makes sense."

"And once you've got him in a painting," Kamek continued, "Give it to me. I'm sure Lord Bowser would love the paint-ified remains of his enemy hanging on his wall, don't you agree?"

The Boo cackled, amused at the thought. "Sounds like a fine plan to me!"

Kamek held the piece of hair out. "Here. I think this should make it easier for his Spookiness to find the kid, right?"

The Boo floated forward and took the hair. "Yes, this will do."

"Good," Kamek turned to leave "Now, if there's nothing else to be done, I'll just—"

"Wait, wait just a minute," the Boo said. All the other Boos closed in on him, blocking his exit.

"What?" Kamek whirled around to face the main Boo again. "We're done, aren't we?"

"No," said the Boo, floating up to Kamek. "We haven't discussed payment."

Kamek frowned. "I'm sure King Boo owes Lord Bowser quite a few favors—"

"Ah, ah, this is so," the Boo grinned, his fangs sticking out of his mouth. "But Lord Bowser isn't the one doing the asking, now is he?"

Kamek groaned. Stupid, cheating ghosts…!

The Boo looked irritatingly smug. "So, I'm afraid we really can't make any sort of deal until you've provided us with the proper compensation."

Kamek narrowed his eyes, glaring at the Boo. "… Alright. What do you want?"

"One million coins," the Boo said.

"Are you insane?!" Kamek argued, "That's too much! What on Earth do you need that much money for?!"

The Boo turned away, floating away a few feet. "Hey, if this job isn't worth that much to you, then we could just forget the whole thing, eh?"

"No," Kamek sighed, "No, I… I'll get the money."

The Boo turned to face Kamek again. "Ah, good. We'll be waiting here for your payment, then."

And the Boos all disappeared. Kamek kicked a loose floorboard in frustration, yelling obscenities to himself, and stomped out of the house.

Fawful had fallen out of the tree he had been hiding in. He now lay in a bush, a bit bruised and scraped up from the fall. As the conversation in his headphones ended, he reached up a trembling hand and grabbed a tree branch, pulling himself back onto his feet.

He leaned against the tree, still shaken. How did Kamek know Fawful was afraid of ghosts? Did he know that? – Did it even matter?! King Boo would be on Fawful's heels soon, and Fawful didn't have the means to defend himself against a spectral foe.

"Old man is still possessing much cleverness…," Fawful muttered to himself.

Fawful wondered if he could perhaps prevent Kamek from delivering the money. No, what if he failed? Then he'd be defenseless. He'd be better off getting to work right now on something to protect himself with. But what?

He happened to remember there was a scientist who studied ghosts. Perhaps this person had developed some way to defend against ghosts? Oh, what was his name? It was a weird name, he remembered that much… what was it? Professor… something. Professor…

… Gadd. Elvin Gadd.

He had no time to waste. Fawful promptly blasted off in search of the professor.


	5. The chapter in which we are having the meeting of E. Gadd.

Professor Elvin Gadd walked into his lab after a long day of exploring Boo Woods. It was tiring, being such a great ghost researcher! He took a few steps into his house and all of a sudden there was a loud CLUNK, and he found that he was trapped within a large metal cage.

"Hmm?" he said, looking around at the bars that imprisoned him, "What's this, then?"

Fawful dropped down from his hiding place on the ceiling, landing atop the cage. He looked down at his prisoner and grinned. "I say to you hello."

"Hi there, youngster!" Gadd replied, "I seem to have gotten stuck in this cage. I certainly don't remember putting a cage here, but…"

"Quiet your noise!" Fawful snapped, "I am in need of your assistance! I am in danger of being attacked by the King who is a Boo and I will be needing all of your ghost-destroying weapons of powerfulness."

"I'd love to help you out, but I'm stuck in this cage," Professor E. Gadd said.

Fawful rolled his eyes. Did this crazy old geezer even realize that it had been Fawful who had put the cage there? "I have curiousness," he said, "Are you knowing who I am?"

"Well, hopefully you'll be the kid who helps me out of this here cage," Gadd replied.

Fawful was a little offended. Surely he was infamous enough to be known to all, right? "You really are not recognizing me?"

"Should I be?"

Fawful sighed. That was a bit of a blow to his ego, but it'd probably make this a little easier. The professor probably wouldn't be all too keen on working with Fawful if he knew all the terrible things Fawful had done.

Fawful opened the door to the cage, and the diminutive professor stepped out. "Why, thank you, son! Now, what was it you wanted, again?"

"The King who is a Boo is wanting to have turning me into a painting so that the Magikoopa of badness who is being named Kamek may be able to be presenting me as a gift to the Bowser who I hate," Fawful said, looking down on the professor from atop the cage.

"What, now?"

"The King of Booness is chasing after me to be paintifying the one who is me!"

"Er… say again?"

Fawful groaned and spoke slowly and deliberately. "THE – KING – OF – BOONESS – IS – AFTER – THE – ONE – WHO – IS – ME."

"King Boo is after you, you say?"

"Yes!" Fawful said, more than a little frustrated that the professor had had trouble understanding him.

"Well why didn't you say so in the first place!" Gadd said, "I can help you with that!"

"But I was—Ugh!" Fawful slapped himself in the forehead. "Ever of the what! Have giving of me the weapons!"

"Yes, yes, I can definitely help you out," Gadd said, ignoring what Fawful had said as he walked off toward his workshop. Fawful jumped to the floor and followed him as the professor continued talking. "I've been studying ghosts here in Boo Woods for a long time, you know! I've learned quite a few things about fighting ghosts, yesirree."

"Yes, I had the gathering of that," Fawful grumbled. "Just be giving me weapons."

The two entered Gadd's workshop. Various devices and machines were strewn about, some half-finished, some just empty shells. Gadd held out his arms in pride. "Here's my workshop, filled with all my greatest works!"

Fawful was not impressed. "Yes. Oh the greatingness. Now, if you will just be—"

"Now, you were wanting to hide from King Boo, right?"

"I am not wishing to have  _hiding,_  I—"

"Because this whole house is ghost-proof," Gadd said, smiling proudly. "Nope, no ghosts getting in here! So if you want to, you can just hide out here until the old specter loses interest in you."

Fawful groaned. Between this annoying geezer and the overpowering smell of old person that permeated the house, this was absolutely  _not_ the sort of place Fawful wanted to spend a significant amount of time in. "I would have the preference of just becoming a painting of canvasness."

"Hm?"

"I had saying that I would much rather have the destroying of the Boo King!" Fawful said.

"Oh, well, if that's what you want to do," Gadd approached his workbench and picked up a machine that looked suspiciously like a vacuum. "Then you'll need this!"

"What," Fawful said with disdain, "Am I to be tidying up the house of the enemy who I am wanting to be fighting but instead will be cleaning up after?"

Gadd shook his head. "Cleaning? What're you talking about? This is my latest, greatest invention, the  _Poltergust 4001!_ "

"It is looking like the cleaner which employs a vacuum," Fawful said.

"Well… yes, it  _is_ sort of like a vacuum, I suppose," Gadd said, looking over his invention. "But I assure you, this is the latest in ghost-fighting technology!"

Fawful inspected the machine. "I am seeing," he frowned, and flipped open a hatch on the top of the vacuum, exposing all of the wiring, electronics and machinery underneath. "Howingever…"

Gadd inched closer, wondering why Fawful was looking at his work so critically. "Hm?"

"May I have seeing of the blueprints?" Fawful asked.

"Why?" Gadd asked in reply.

"Just let me be seeing."

Elvin Gadd shrugged and waddled over to a shelf. With some difficulty, he located one rolled-up sheet of paper among many others and pulled it down. He returned and handed the blueprint to the bean.

Fawful sat down on the floor beside the  _Poltergust 4001_ and inspected the blueprint, making disapproving 'hmms' and 'hrms' and the like. Professor E. Gadd suddenly felt very self-conscious in front of this youngster.

Finally Fawful put down the blueprints and frowned up at the professor. "This is not going to be sufficient for the defeating of the one who is after my great self."

"Eh?"

"I will be needing to make improvings."

"But—"

"No arguings!" Fawful snapped. He produced a pen from his belt-pouch. He proceeded to write on the blueprints. "I am assuming you are in the possession of the materials I am needing to make these adjustments that I have just marked for your seeing?"

Gadd stared at the paper in amazement. "That—that'll increase efficiency by 200! How did you—"

Fawful just smiled at the old man.

Gadd smiled back, feeling a little bit of happiness to see someone so young with so much talent. He nodded, and ran off to procure the materials.


	6. The chapter in which preparations are having being made.

Kamek poked his head out of the door and looked to both sides, making sure the coast was clear. He certainly had the money for King Boo, no issue there... or at least, he had access to the vaults that did. Taking it wasn't an issue.

Not seeing any obstacle, Kamek opened the door and started to walk out of the door with a large bag of gold coins over his shoulder. Most people wouldn't question him for carrying this much. After all, he was one of the leaders of the Magikoopas, certainly he would have money stockpiled, right? No, the only real problem was…

He heard familiar shuffling footsteps approaching him from behind.  _Oh, no…_

"Kamek!" cried the voice of the  _other_  leader of the Magikoopas, Kammy Koopa.

Kamek continued walking, pretending not to hear her. Perhaps he could feign losing his hearing.

But Kamek was weighed down with all that heavy gold, and Kammy caught up to him easily. She frowned at him, immediately suspicious.

"Why, Kamek," she said with false friendliness, "What's in the bag?"

"None of your business, Kammy," he said simply.

She tugged on the bag, and Kamek groaned under the weight. He was too old for this.

"Funny, all that clinking noise, sounds like you're carrying money around," she said.

"My savings," Kamek said.

"Retirement fund?" she asked with a grin.

He scoffed. "Yes, Kammy, because I really intend on retiring and leaving you in charge. Shouldn't  _you_  be retiring?"

"Not while you're around to mess things up," she replied. "So what  _are_  you doing with all of that money?"

"Investing it." It wasn't  _completely_  a lie.

"Oh, yes?" she said, not quite convinced, "And that's all  _your_ money?"

"Of course," Kamek said. He wondered when she was going to go away. "Whose else would it be?"

"Oh, I don't know," she said in a way that implied that she might, indeed, know.

She was bluffing, Kamek knew. He made sure to take the money from vaults she didn't have access to. There was no way in the world she could figure out what he was doing so quickly.

And he had to make sure it stayed that way. This whole scheme was more about making himself look good in comparison to Kammy than anything else. Fawful really wasn't that huge a threat, Kamek honestly didn't care what happened to the little freak. But Bowser still held a grudge and would do anything to make the kid pay for all of the things he'd done to him. If Kamek could take care of the little bean-scientist, once and for all, without Kammy's interference, then that would seal his position as Bowser's right-hand man. Every time Bowser looked at the painting that would imprison Fawful, he would remember just how amazing Kamek really was. Kammy would never be able to do anything to top that, short of destroying the Mario brothers herself, which he knew she could never do.

He had to do this. Kammy couldn't get in the way.

"Look," he said, "I've got to get going, my broker's waiting for me. So if you don't mind, I'll just be going now."

He started walking off as fast as he could manage. Kammy just stood back, glaring at him and wondering what in the world he could possibly be up to.

Professor Elvin Gadd had been working all through the night on the modifications to the  _Poltergust_. Fawful had wanted to stay up and do the modifications himself, but the old professor refused to allow someone as young as Fawful to stay up so late.

 _"I am not being a child of kidness!"_ Fawful had insisted,  _"You will just have the ruining of it and the messing up of what I have planned!"_

But Fawful had fallen asleep quickly enough, just proving to Gadd that he had been right and Fawful needed his sleep.

He had finished the adjustments by the time the sun had risen, and went to wake the young bean-scientist.

Fawful was sprawled out on a couch, snoring a little 'rururu' noise and kicking his leg as though dreaming.

Gadd nudged him with a ruler. Fawful made a little 'snerk' noise and sat up straight.

"Ruru… O great Cack—eh?"

"'Morning, youngster!" Gadd greeted, "The modifications are done!"

"Oh yes?" Fawful said, rubbing his eyes with one hand and reaching for his glasses with the other. "I possess futile hope that you may have not been messing up my plans of brilliantness?"

"It came out perfectly," Gadd said, "Come see."

Fawful put on his glasses and slid himself off of the couch. "O of the kay, let me be seeing."

Gadd led Fawful into the workshop and to the newly-remodeled  _Poltergust_ , now renumbered to  _4500_. Fawful sat down beside it and started inspecting it; first he looked over the outside of the thing, then he moved on to opening it up and looking over the insides.

"This will have doing," he said at last.

Gadd was relieved. Despite his genius and his years and years of studying and research, some of what Fawful had asked of him was beyond his understanding. He wondered who in the world this kid was.

Fawful took the  _Poltergust 4500_  and mounted it on his back. "I have the thanking of you, although in truth you should have the thanking of  _me_  for being improving upon your design which was very flawed."

"Er… okay."

Fawful started to leave. Gadd followed after him.

"I will be leaving," Fawful said.

"Hold on, son!" Gadd said, "You'll be bringing that back once you're done with it, right?"

Fawful rolled his eyes. "Maying be."

"And I don't suppose I could convince you to become my new assistant?"

"No."

"That's too bad," Gad shrugged, "Don't suppose you could tell me your name, at least?"

Fawful grinned. He didn't see the harm in toying with this geezer. "My naming? I am being named Fawful."

Gadd's eyes widened in realization. He had spent enough time in Beanbean to recognize that name.

Fawful laughed and activated his jetpack, shooting into the sky at great speed.

Gadd scratched his head.

"Oh my..."


	7. The chapter in which there are complications.

He was ready. He had the new  _Poltergust 4500_  for the ghosts, he had his  _FuryZAP 9000_ for Kamek, there was nothing that would stand in his way now.

So why did he feel so nervous?

At the tiniest sound he would jump, he looked nervously around no matter where he was. The truth was that he was terrified. It didn't matter that he was armed now. He was still terrified of ghosts.

He had gone back to that first haunted house and used the  _Poltergust_  to suck up those three Boos that had been so irritating. That helped his confidence a  _little_ , but he knew that those Boos were nothing when compared to King Boo. Furthermore, from what he had heard, King Boo was made stronger by the presence of Boos—therefore, he would probably be accompanied by an army of ghosts. The idea of so many specters coming at him all at once sent shivers down his spine.

Stupid Kamek. When he got his hands on that Magikoopa…!

He found himself standing a distance away from the house that Kamek had found King Boo in. He knew the best thing he could do was to just run in there and hit the stupid spectral monarch when he was least expecting it, but…

"Rururu…," Fawful whimpered. "I have cowardice."

He sighed, walking away. That was it, he simply had nothing left to do but wait.

Rose Town was nearby. Perhaps he could hide out there. At least when the ghosts burst in he might be able to use the screams of the villagers as a warning system of sorts. Yeah, that was a good idea. He activated his jetpack and flew off toward the town.

Kamek wasn't happy. He'd just paid the ghosts, they were on the hunt now, he  _thought_  by now that his problems would be over.

But nooo.

He pounded a fist against the door to Kammy's study. At length the door opened, and Kammy looked at him with a smug little smile. Part of him wanted to punch her in that smug little face of hers, but he held back.

He shoved a piece of paper in her face.

"What's this supposed to be?!"

She took the paper from him and looked it over, still smiling. "Oh, this? It's my latest brilliant plan."

It was a wanted sign, with Fawful's face on it. It read  _WANTED – FAWFUL. FOR CRIMES AGAINST THE CROWN. GOES BY THE ALIAS 'GERA'. WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE – TURN IN TO LOCAL POLICE FORCE IF CAUGHT._

Kamek growled. "You idiot! What were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking that if Fawful gets himself locked up, he won't be able to bother us," she said.

"If he gets locked up,  _we_  won't be able to get him!" Kamek cried.

If Fawful was caught, King Boo wouldn't be able to get him. King Boo and the Mario brothers were enemies; if the royal specter showed up at a state jail Mario would come to vanquish him. Fawful would become untouchable, guarded by the very brothers he hated so much.

This was Kammy's plan. He knew it. She'd figured out he'd been up to something and, not knowing the details, did this to foul it up. She couldn't bear the idea of being outdone by him.

She fluffed her hair and spoke to him as though he were a fool. "I know you want the satisfaction of catching him yourself, but  _I'm_  being  _sensible_. I just don't want him attacking us again, and if that means letting Mario win this little battle then so be it; we'll be better off this way."

"You weren't even  _here_  when he attacked us!" he argued.

"I just want what's best for the Koopa clan," she insisted.

He groaned loudly. He could do no more. He stomped off down the hall, being able to feel Kammy glaring at him with her proud eyes. He'd get her for this.

He wished he had caught this sooner. Surely everyone would have seen these posters by now, she had put them everywhere. If only he had caught her before anyone could have seen…

He could only hope Fawful could stay away from the authorities, just long enough for King Boo to catch up with him.

Fawful was feeling a little more confident by the time he got to the edge of Rose Town. Just the idea of not being completely alone was reassuring to him. As much as he hated the people of the Mushroom Kingdom, the thought of their company was quite soothing to Fawful right now.

He hadn't been listening to Kamek's conversations all day. He had no idea why the town seemed to freeze when he walked through.

Windows slammed shut as he passed, people hid from his gaze as best as they could. He was bewildered. What was going on?

Then he saw it: the wanted poster. He stared at it with wide eyes, taking in every word and wondering why they had used such a lousy picture for it. Eventually he grabbed it and tore it from the wall it had been posted on, crumpling it in his little green hands.

"I have fury…," he mumbled to himself. "What is being the meaning of this?"

He heard some footsteps behind him and turned to see the town elder standing a little ways down the street. He looked clearly unnerved.

"Fawful," he said.

"I am not knowing why you are having the calling of me that," Fawful said, playing dumb while hiding the crumpled paper behind his back. "My name is being Gera, are you not remembering?"

"I saw the poster," said the elder, "We all did. You lied to us!"

Fawful glanced around. People were starting to come out of their homes, armed with baseball bats and the like. He was surrounded.

He grinned. "Of course I had lying. If I had the truth-telling, you would all have doing what you are doing now."

The crowd was coming in closer now, and there really wasn't any place he could run—that is, if he was limited to running. But he wasn't, and he failed to be intimidated. He started to laugh heartily at the villagers.

"You idiots of foolishness! Do you really have the belief that you will be apprehending the great and amazing Fawful who is me?!"

The villagers didn't say anything. They just stared him down for a few moments before finally rushing at him all at once. But their efforts were all in vain and he simply activated his rockets. He shot up in to the sky, but not too high; he still had more taunting to do yet. He looked down at the villagers with his signature smile. They couldn't touch him and he knew it. No pathetic Toads could capture him!

"Are you now seeing the futility of the efforts you put forth? Your trying to capture me is useless like the kitchen sponge that tries to soak up the ocean of vastness!"

He laughed again. A child's voice yelled out "Jerk!" and a rock flew into Fawful's head. Growling, he looked down into the crowd and saw the innkeeper's son standing below him with a slingshot. He grinned and whipped out his  _FuryZAP 9000_. The crowd below him started to scramble, running about aimlessly and crying out in fear. He laughed and charged up a powerful shot. He had always wanted to do this.

And then he saw it. Floating in the sky a little way away, a single Boo appeared. He stared at it until it caught sight of him. It grinned at him and more Boos began to appear with it. All of the color drained from the little bean's face and, with a scared little squeal, he turned and shot off in the opposite direction as fast as his rockets could possibly allow. He didn't dare look back.


	8. The chapter in which Fawful is confronting many Boos.

Fawful didn't stop for anything. Out of the corner of his eye he would glimpse what might have been Boos or maybe they were just clouds; he was moving too quickly to tell. He knew he had to stop and face these things eventually, but he certainly didn't want to do it here and he'd rather put it off as long as he could.

A bit of guilt twanged in his heart. He shouldn't be running away like this. Cackletta taught him better than this. He should stand and fight like a man.

He stopped and looked around. No Boos within sight. He adjusted his glasses and thought about his situation.

He probably shouldn't fight in such an open area; anything could sneak up on him from here. No, he'd be better finding someplace indoors and wait for King Boo to come. But where? His first choice would certainly be his bean shop, being that he'd have the home advantage there, but at the same time he didn't want to risk the ghosts alerting anyone to his presence in the sewers. Not to mention the havoc those Boos could wreak on his inventory. Perhaps…

"Perhaps I would have better off finding a house of haunting," he said to himself. "I could have hiding there and also perhaps be practice with the vacuuming."

He looked around and, not seeing a haunted house, flew toward some trees, hoping that the trees would become a dark forest and the forest would contain a haunted house. He searched and searched, but found nothing. The sun was beginning to set, and butterflies were rising in his stomach. He didn't want to be outside at night. Not while they were after him. He had to find someplace.

The moon had risen halfway by the time he finally found a run-down house. By now he was frantic and rushed inside, closing the door behind him as though it might actually do some good. Sighing in relief, he walked forward into the dark house, lighting his way with a flashlight that was mounted on the  _Poltergust_ 's nozzle.

The floorboards creaked under his light footsteps as he wandered the house. For a while that was the only noise in the entire house. But as he started to settle down and relax, he became aware of another noise. He strained his ears to hear it.

Whispers.

He got back to his feet and looked around. Nothing. He circled around the room. Still nothing.

"Ghosts of stupidness!" he said, failing to mask the shakiness of his voice, "Have showing of yourselves!"

The room erupted into ghostly cackles. Fawful swallowed the lump in his throat and gripped the nozzle of the  _Poltergust_ , ready to attack. One by one, several Boos appeared all over the room. They all glared at him with a clear ill intent.

"We've been looking for you," one Boo said.

"People out there want you out of the way, kiddo," said another.

"You've certainly made a lot of powerful enemies," said a third.

"The King'll be over here quicker than you can say 'boo', once we let him know where you're at," said yet another.

Fawful frowned. "Well then," he said, "I will just be making sure you will not have ability to be letting him know."

Fawful shone the light right at the Boo directly in front of him and flicked the switch on the  _Poltergust_ , causing it to turn on and start sucking up the confident little apparition. The Boo, startled, struggled and tried to get away, but was sucked into the vacuum. Fawful promptly moved on to the next one, sucking it up just as easily.

The remaining Boos became aware of the danger and sought to strike back, swooping in at the young Bean. He squeaked and ducked, swiping at them with his free hand. It hurt when they hit him. He couldn't figure out how they could hit him when he couldn't hit them. After taking a few hits he rolled onto his back—or at least, he did as best as he could with the  _Poltergust_  strapped to his back and his jetpack strapped onto that—and started sucking away whatever Boos got too close. Eventually they were all gone, and he rolled onto his side, catching his breath and curling up, sore all over.

It wasn't long before he was aware of another ghostly cackle. This one was just a single ghost, but he couldn't see it anywhere.

"Where do you have hiding?" he called out.

The ghost didn't speak, nor did it reveal itself. It continued laughing.

Fawful took a deep breath.

"Cease your hiding of cowardice!" Fawful yelled, hoping to insult the ghost into appearing. "Only pathetic things of worthlessness hide behind invisibilities and laughing!"

The ghost did not appear, but stopped laughing. Instead, it spoke.

"Do you really think you can take on King Boo?"

"Yes," Fawful said, pretending he was confident.

The ghost laughed again. "Might as well give up now, child."

"I am not being a child," Fawful said, "And I will not have surrendering."

"You'll never win," it said in a taunting, almost sing-songy tone, "Never, never, never…"

"Make with the up-shut!" Fawful cried, "Have the showing of yourself, you ghost who is clearly being in fear of me!"

"Hah, afraid of  _you_ ," the ghost laughed again, and appeared as a faint outline on the other side of the room. It flashed a fanged grin at the bean. "I'd like to see you try something."

Fawful growled and rushed at the ghost, who backed away from him at the same rate at which he ran. Fawful growled even louder, agitated, and yelled every insult he knew at the ghost. He turned the flashlight at the ghost but the ghost was just far enough away that the beam wasn't strong enough to stun him.

The ghost eventually phased through a wall and out of the house. Fawful gasped, terrified that the ghost would return with King Boo in tow, and made to jump out of the nearest window to chase after it. But before he could get himself out of the window the ghost faded away and disappeared into the night. Fawful stared out at where the ghost had been.

It wouldn't be long now.


	9. The chapter in which King Boo is fought and unexpected things are happening.

Fawful sat on the floor, leaning his back against a corner in the room. He sat there for the longest time and waited.

He thought they said that King Boo would be there faster than he said 'boo'? He said "boo" a few times. Nothing happened. He groaned.

They were doing this on purpose. He wouldn't be surprised if they were already there, invisible, just waiting for him to fall asleep…

He closed his eyes, sighing. He tried to keep himself calm. Clearly King Boo was trying to get Fawful nervous by making him wait so long, and Fawful refused to play into his hands like that. So he sat and waited, assuring himself that he had the  _Poltergust_  now, he knew how to use it, he'd taken out plenty of Boos already and he'd be able to defeat their King as well.

He felt a chill. He jumped to his feet and clutched the nozzle of the  _Poltergust_ , knowing that the ghost king was surely nearby.

Suddenly the room broke out into laughter, thousands of ghostly voices all chuckling at him. Fawful struggled to keep his heart from beating out of his chest as he stood there, looking as confident as he could manage.

"Have showing of yourself," Fawful said.

A countless amount of Boos appeared all at once. They all stared directly at him from every point in the room, obscuring the walls and the ceiling so that all Fawful could see was the floor and an envelope of ghosts surrounding him in every direction.

And then he appeared: King Boo himself, in the middle of the room. He was somewhat bigger than the other Boos, with a golden crown atop his head and a malicious grin on his face. His tongue stuck out of his mouth. He laughed as though the sight of Fawful with his little vacuum was the most amusing thing he had ever seen.

"I am knowing why you are in the place which is here," Fawful said. "You are not going to have ability to trap me in a picture of paintedness!"

The ghost king laughed harder, and finally spoke. "Sorry kid, but you're wrong. See, I  _can_  trap you in a painting, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

King Boo pointed forward his nub-arm, and bolts of lightning shot forth at Fawful. Fawful, however, wasn't bothered by this in the least; after all, he had spent his whole life as Cackletta's toady! One cannot survive for long as Cackletta's henchman without knowing how to dodge magic lightning. And so he nimbly dodged this simple attack, and then proceeded to switch on the  _Poltergust_  and pointed it at King Boo.

The ghost dodged the vacuum's suction and, quick as a flash, flew to the other end of the room. Fawful ran to get closer, but slowed down as another barrage of lightning came at him.

The other Boos in the room chuckled and giggled at Fawful as he dodged the attacks. Fawful huffed and, as soon as the lightning ceased, he pointed up to the ghosts and yelled. "Cease your giggles! I am trying to have concentration!"

That was the point at which a bolt struck Fawful. He flew backwards from the force of the blow, but managed to fire his rockets just enough to right himself and landed, clumsily, on his feet. He groaned, clutching his chest.

"Not being fair," Fawful said.

Fawful caught his breath and rushed forward at King Boo again, who just moved out of the way once more. Fawful wasn't going to give the ghost king another chance to attack, and he fired his rockets to chase after him. Turning on the  _Poltergust_ , he managed to catch King Boo in the  _Poltergust's_  suction. King Boo flailed for a moment before pulling away and moving out of range again.

King Boo raised his arm. Fawful readied himself to dodge more lightning bolts, but none came. Instead, all of the Boos in the room began to move. They encircled Fawful, speeding around him in a swirling mass. None attacked, but the constant motion around him was enough to make the poor little Bean dizzy. He tried to suck up the Boos, and though they were certainly close enough, they were moving too quickly and the vacuum couldn't keep a grip on them. Fawful tried shining the flashlight on them, but it didn't do much. This all made him very uneasy.

He could hear King Boo's voice from outside the vortex of Boos. "You know, kid, I'm the king of ghosts.  _All_  ghosts.  _Every_  ghost."

Fawful wasn't sure where King Boo was going with this. The wall of swirling Boos widened, so that now he could see King Boo, whose eyes were glowing red. Fawful wondered what in the world the ghost was doing, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of purple in the wall of Boos.

He looked over, but didn't see anything aside from the thousands of Boos. While he was distracted, a few Boos swooped down and hit Fawful before flying back into the swirling mass. Fawful fell over, but pulled himself back to his feet as quickly as he could, returning all attention to King Boo.

He saw the purple again, this time on the other side, just barely flashing by in his peripheral vision. He didn't look this time.

"I am not knowing what you are trying to do," Fawful yelled, "But you are not going to have the distracting of—"

And then he heard it.

A faint voice, hardly audible over the whirling and chuckling of the Boos, but he heard it. It rung in his ears, that familiar sound he had longed to hear for so long…

"…wful… Fawful…"

It was her. It was  _her_ voice.

He whirled around, searching the mass of ghosts. "Cackletta!" he screamed, "Cackletta, I have hearing!"

Some Boos swooped down and hit him again, knocking him over. He continued to search, trying to get up. "Cackletta! Where are you being?!"

The voice continued, but sounded farther away.

"… Fawful….. wful… ul…"

"Cackletta! O great Cackletta!" He cried, "Have returning! Do not be leaving me again!"

More Boos came down at him. This time they didn't swoop away, but hit him hard and pinned him down. Fawful struggled. He lost his grip on the  _Poltergust_ 's nozzle and had his hands pinned to the floor by little ghostly hands. He screamed and thrashed, but to no avail. They laughed harder than ever before at his plight.

"No!  _No!_  Be releasing me! Allow me to be seeing the great Cackletta! Let go!  _Let go!_ "

They started to drag him across the floor. He could, just barely, see a giant canvas, frame and all, waiting for him on the other side of the room. He screamed. " _No!_  You ghosts of stupidness! Let go of the one who is me!" He tried to pull himself free, to no avail, "Cackletta! Where are you being?!  _Cackletta!_ "

They continued to drag him along as he kicked and screamed and tried his hardest to grab the  _Poltergust_ 's nozzle, but he couldn't manage it. He could hear King Boo laughing at him… laughing as though he had already won.

Fawful could feel tears stinging at his eyes. "Cackletta…"

He saw the purple flash past again. He thrashed harder. "Cackletta!  _Cackletta!_ "

Her voice rang out. "What are you doing, letting them distract you with me?! I thought I taught you better than that!"

"I-I have apology, O great Cackletta, but—"

"You're perfectly capable of getting yourself out of this mess, so do it!"

"Y-Y-Yes, O great Cackletta!"

Fawful tried to think of something, still trying to pull out of the Boos' grips. He couldn't grab the nozzle. He realized he could reach his  _FuryZAP 9000_ , but what good would that do against the ghosts? And they were getting so close to that canvas, and…

The canvas!

He grabbed the  _FuryZAP 9000_  and started firing wildly, scaring the Boos just enough to loosen their grip on him. He then proceeded to blast the canvas to shreds. While the Boos looked on in horror at what he had just done, he grabbed the  _Poltergust_ 's nozzle and sucked up every one of the Boos near him. He jumped to his feet, holstering the  _FuryZAP_ and pointing the  _Poltergust_  at King Boo, who looked as though he was trying to hide how disconcerted he was. Fawful laughed.

"You thought you had the defeating of me! But it is now when the one who was almost defeated is striking back and defeating  _you!_ "

He switched on his jetpack and flew at King Boo, who fired several spells in Fawful's direction. Fawful dodged them with little difficulty. Some Boos came flying at him, but he spun in a neat little barrel roll, sucking up each one of them. He grinned to himself at the thought that Cackletta was there, that she would bear witness to his defeat of the king of Boos! He chuckled as he came upon King Boo and caught him in the  _Poltergust's_  suction. He tried to run away, but Fawful followed, not going to let his prey escape. Some more Boos came at him, and he momentarily took the nozzle away from the king to suck them up, before once again setting his sights on King Boo. He was glad he had done those upgrades to the  _Poltergust_. Without them this would have been much more difficult. He continued to pull at the ghost king, until King Boo shot out a shockwave, knocking Fawful away.

Fawful hit the ground hard and rolled over a few times, but jumped to his feet quickly and grinned at the specter. King Boo was no longer so confident.

"Punk kid," a new canvas appeared behind the specter. "You're gettin' in this canvas. I don't care how much you scream and fight, but it's gonna happen."

"You are full of delusion!" Fawful laughed, "It is not I that will have trapping in the canvas, but  _you_  who will have trapping in this vacuum!"

A mass of Boos came at Fawful, but once again he sucked them up, not giving them the chance to pin him down again. He then shot off toward King Boo again, who ran in the opposite direction in an attempt to get away. More Boos attacked Fawful, meeting the same fate as the ones before them.

Fawful caught King Boo in the suction again. He could tell that he was beginning to wear the royal specter down by now, as his thrashings were more desperate and his spells were aimed more sloppily. Fawful noticed that the Boos that surrounded them had been slowing down in their circling, and eventually stopped, all staring as Fawful wore away at their leader.

King Boo motioned for more Boos to attack Fawful, but this time nothing happened. He looked up at his followers, panic overcoming his features.

"What's wrong with you all?! Attack him!"

The Boos hesitated. Finally, one called out, "You're on your own, boss!"

"We don't want to get stuck in that vacuum!" said another.

"Good luck, sire!"

And so all of the Boos turned and flew away, disappearing one by one.

King Boo was mortified.

Fawful laughed. "I have hilarity! All of your followers who may have been able to defeat me have turned and run like the cowardly cowards they are being!"

King Boo growled and shot magic of all kinds at Fawful; lightning, fire, ice—everything he had. Fawful dodged easily, laughing all the while.

Eventually King Boo stopped, frowning deeply.

"A million coins isn't worth this," he grumbled, "I'm out of here."

"Ah! There is no escaping now!" Fawful cried, flying forward and getting in King Boo's face. "You have had causing of me much paining and troubles, and I am not one to be letting anyone, not even the King who is Boo, have getting away with such things."

Fawful then jammed the  _Poltergust_ 's nozzle against King Boo's forehead and flicked the switch. The ghost was sucked in, screaming all the while, leaving behind nothing but his crown, which clattered onto the wooden floor.

Fawful set himself down on the ground and picked up the crown. He placed it on his head; it was a little too big, but nevertheless he proceeded to dance around in it, pleased with himself. Soon enough he stopped, clutching his sides and mumbling a few "ouches" under his breath. He was terribly sore, and would probably be covered in bruises by the next day—but he didn't care. He had won!

He looked around, holding the crown on his head so it wouldn't droop down. He didn't see anything in the room except for the walls themselves.

"Cackletta?"

Nothing.

He paced around. "Cackletta? O great Cackletta? Did you have seeing?"

Still nothing. He started to feel panicked at the thought of her being gone once again. "Cackletta?! Where are you being?"

"Fawful."

He turned around and found a vague purple form floating a little way away. He felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"O great Cackletta! I had the fear that you were being gone again!"

"Stand up straight, Fawful! No wonder they got so many hits on you, with posture like that!"

"Y-Yes!" Fawful straightened his back. "But—but did you have seeing?"

"And look at you! I thought your cloak was tattered  _before_ … honestly, can't you take care of yourself without me?"

Fawful smiled nervously. "I have apology! I will have the acquisition of new clothings as soon as I am able! B-but… did you not have witnessing of my amazingness?"

She sighed. "Yes, Fawful."

"What are you thinking of it?"

She paused. "I'm quite pleased with you," there was another pause, "But tell me… how can you be so proficient in battle and not be ruling the world yet?"

Fawful faltered, pulling the crown down on his head in embarrassment. "Well—that is to be saying—er…"

Again she sighed. "No, I'm sure it's just a matter of time."

"I say to you yes!" Fawful spouted, "You are seeing, I have a brilliant base of operating, and I have had the building of many machines and the collecting of so many beans you would not believe the number and soon, so soon I will have my revengings!"

"Good," there was a length of silence, before finally she said. "You make me proud, Fawful."

Fawful was overcome by happiness. He couldn't find the words to express how glad he was.

"And you'd better continue making me proud," she said, slightly threateningly.

"Y-Yes, O great Cackletta!" he said.

She started to fade away.

"Cackletta!" Fawful cried. "I am not wanting to be alone again!"

"Stop blubbering," she said, "You've done well enough on your own so far, you can continue like that."

He bit down on his lip. "But…"

"We don't have a choice, here," she said. "Goodbye, Fawful."

She disappeared. Fawful sniffled.

"Goodbying, Cackletta…"


	10. The epilogue which possesses shortness.

Kamek came to the old haunted house. This was ridiculous. After paying so much, he expected to have Fawful in painting form by now. He'd have words with King Boo, that was for sure.

He found the door closed; this was odd considering it had fallen off of its hinges last time he was here. He ignored it though; he had more important things to worry about than why ghosts would need to repair a broken door.

He walked into the house, looking around for some ghosts.

"Hey!" he called out.

There was no answer.

"Hey!" he said again. "Where are you guys? I've got a bone to pick with your king!"

No reply. He thought he heard a shuffling noise, and he glanced around. He didn't see anything.

"If you're hiding from me," he said, "I'm going to be very angry."

More shuffling.

"I don't suppose Lord Bowser would be very happy to know that you've cheated him out of a million coins!" he said.

The door behind him slammed shut. Kamek whirled around to see Fawful standing at the door, one hand on the doorknob, locking it, and the other holding a laser gun. Kamek's eyes widened.

"Ah… Fawful! How have you been? No terrible misfortune, I hope?"

"Oh, no," Fawful said with a wide grin, "My fortunes have had much goodness. You see, I have had the defeating of your Boo King."

Kamek froze. "O-Oh really? Wh-why would you have anything to do with him, I wonder?"

"I have wondering," Fawful said, obviously sarcastic. He took a step forward.

Kamek dropped the charade. "You… you know, don't you."

Fawful nodded. Kamek brought out his wand and started to chant a spell, but Fawful zapped the wand out of his hand.

Kamek watched as Fawful aimed his laser at him. He groaned.

This was going to  _hurt_.


End file.
